The O-town Scene

A small piece of Belgium will be coming to the Cooperstown area once again this weekend. Brewery Ommegang's 16th annual Bel- gium Comes to Cooperstown beer festival will feature more than 200 different beers from more than 65 different breweries. One of the beers will be "Valar Morghou- lis," the soon-to-be released fourth beer in Brewery Ommegang's collaboration with HBO's television series "Game of Thrones." "This is the first real consumer tasting," said Allison Capozza, publicity manager at Brewery Ommegang. The theme of this year's festival is Las Vegas, and Capozza said that that the excitement level at Brewery Ommegang about the event is very high. "It's already starting to feel like Vegas here," said Capozza. BCTC will begin tomorrow, with a dinner and other events for the festival's VIPs. The bulk of the festival will take place on Saturday, however, when the tastings will take place. The gates will open at noon Saturday for general admission ticket hold- ers, with beer tasting for VIPs beginning at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and for general admission ticket holders at 3 p.m. Tastings will end at 7 p.m., but entertainment will continue later. Camping will be available for VIPs Friday, and for VIPs and those with camping tick- ets Saturday. Capozza said that the festival will have around 3,000 attendees this year. Beer may be the focus of BCTC, but the festival offers other attractions besides the brews, some of which will will be Vegas- themed, including a wedding chapel and a gambling abbey. There will also be a cigar tent, petting zoo, relaxation tent, circus performances by the troupe Nimble Arts, midnight bonfires and a corn-hole tourna- ment, among other events. VIPs, and those who signed up for Game of Thrones Experience upgrade, will get access to The Game of Thrones Experi- ence Tent, where they will will get to take a picture on a replica of the Iron Throne from the popular fantasy television show, as well as a Bottle of "Valar Morghoulis" and a custom glass. Music at BCTC will begin at 3 p.m. Sat- urday, and feature the likes of The Gristly Hand, a folk/soul band from Kansas City Mo., The Mopar Cams, a punk band from Oneonta, viral video star Puddles Pity Party, rock and roll/rockabilly artist JD McPherson, Lee Alverson as Elton John, an acclaimed Elton John tribute act, and Lars Viola, who will conclude the night with old school R&B, rap, funk and Motown. Food at the event will be available from Cafe Ommegang, Origins Cafe, The Mil- ford Inn, Pizza Genie and Gooches. Although tickets sold out in minutes when they went on sale this April, those who wish to go to BCTC still have options. Capozza said that would-be ticket buyers can go on BCTC's Facebook page, where people with unwanted tickets sometimes post when they are trying to sell them. "People buy tickets early and then plans change," said Capozza. Tickets for next year's event will go on sale next April 1. Ommegang's BCTC sells out for weekend 8 O-Town Scene August 7, 2014 By Bera Dunau Staff Writer 280013

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